IN FOCUS Peeter Rebane

Love Story

Behind the Iron Curtain

Peeter Rebane believes that it is important to tell stories that would make people understand each other better. Rebane has just recently completed his first feature film Firebird. “Mutual understanding is the key – nothing else is needed. Misunderstandings create fear, and fear makes people do terrible things.”

By Kristi Pärn-Valdoja/Magazine Säde Photos by Virge Viertek and Herkki-Erich Merila

Peeter Rebane’s debut feature film is based on true events, telling the story about the forbidden love between two men in a Soviet military base during the Cold War era. The screenplay follows the memoirs of Russian actor Sergey Fetisov, written by Peeter Rebane and Tom Prior, also the starring actor of the film.

To begin with – we have known each other for about twenty years. Years ago you managed your own film distribution company. Did you dream of making a film already back then? I actually had a dream of founding a cinema back in the days of secondary school, even if this was not a conscious plan. As a twelveyearold boy, I developed

photographs from film, and since many kids had photography as their hobby, this seemed an entirely normal thing to do. In secondary school, I made VHS mixtapes, and this I can perhaps call the beginning of my filmmaking. I continued my studies at university while focusing on setting up my own enterprise and establishing financial security. On one hand, it would have been awesome to start telling stories already back then. On the other hand, I would have had so much less to say. Recently, when I read Konstantin Stanislavsky’s biography I realized with selfconfidence that Stanislavsky, too, worked as an entrepreneur in Russia before becoming a stage director. Actually, on second thought, directing films and managing a business have a lot in common. Both jobs require management skills and collaboration with a big team of people, logistics, and budget system. A film director’s job is not only creative and related to storytelling, but a good director must have both excellent time and budget management skills, as well as be able to direct his team towards a common vision. were used, and the whole film had a minimal set design – a few rooms, a small garden, forest. And yet, it is still a very good film made under a million euros. But this is rather an exception. So, yes – finding the necessary support for the film was one of the biggest obstacles. That, in turn, can be either a good or a bad thing. You are lucky when the providers of support are very smart, understand the message, and the marketing potential of the story. In this case, they will help you to develop your story to the extent that it will be perfect before giving you the support. The negative side can appear when the providers of support are interested in low risk and search for the story that would become a box office hit – you must have famous actors, the screenplay could be ideally an adaptation of some comics. The story of my feature was different though, therefore finding the supporters took years. Finally we met people who believed in the potential of the story, and that the story could attract the attention of other people in the world.

While talking about the budget – how difficult (or easy) was it to find financial support for your first feature? Extremely difficult. Certainly, there are excellent films made with practically zero budget; however, a historical film such as Firebird could not to be filmed with no money. We used fighter bombers and an enormous crew – there were days when 60–70 people were involved with the filming, and on other days we had 120 extras in 1970s military uniforms, as well as a base of the Soviet Air Force. With a small budget, one can perhaps film a contemporary story. To give an example in historical films with a low budget, Son of Saul is a great film where mainly medium shots and closeups

Stills from Firebird. The main character Sergey, played by Tom Prior (above) and Sergey and Luisa (played by Diana Pozharskaya) below. Firebird was produced in collaboration with an international crew. What did it look like to manage all the representatives of different nations and cultures? In my opinion, the era of nation states is about to end. Today, it is of no importance whether I am a British, an Estonian or a Russian – what matters the most is human beings with their qualities and skills. When we started with the casting, we decided immediately that we’d be based on our guts rather than on certain nationalities when it came to the actors. We had the same approach when assembling the film crew. We had people from 15 different countries in our crew, in

So nothing has really changed compared to the times your film is about? That’s surprisingly true. Censorship in the Russain media is still incredibly powerful. We had direct conversations with several journalists in Russia who confessed that they were not allowed to write a positive review about Firebird, despite the fact that they really liked the film. Some journalists clearly expressed that they won’t write anything about the film since they did not want any trouble. Finally, our PR people had to convince journalists to write at least something about Firebird, even if it’s a negative story, since people could read between the lines.

cluding Iceland, Italy and the USA. It was extremely cool working with such a multinational crowd, everyone brought their unique cultural background with them. There is a danger when you work with a monocultural team, for instance with Estonians only, that everyone would understand the story exactly the same way, based on what we know, believe, and what we have been taught to since childhood. Then you take the film to a foreign audience, let’s say Italians, and they won’t understand a thing since they have grown up in an entirely different environment. Taking this into consideration, it was really great to write in collaboration with Tom – right away, he commented on some aspects that won’t make any sense. When I explained to him the background his reaction was, how on earth could he know about these things? Any nonEstonian viewer would probably think the same way. That is why it is very important to have diverse perspectives in filmmaking.

You have screened the film already in several festivals in London and Moscow – and they say you created quite a furore with Firebird in Moscow? Yes, things were slightly odd in Moscow. First we were really happy to take part in the festival since Firebird is based on a true story, following the biography of a Russian actor. Then it turned out that the first screening of the film created so much fuss in the festival that the rest of the screenings were cancelled. They did not inform us directly about this event; however, the media reflected that a group of people submitted a petition to the Attorney General in Russia, according to which the film should be banned. Some people even went to protest in front of the cinema with posters. It is sad to admit that Russia is still strongly suffering from political propaganda and discrimination.

The cast of Firebird is international – Tom Prior (Sergey) is British and Oleg Zagorodnii (Roman) is Ukrainian. In London, on the contrary, your film was received really well and several positive reviews were published? We had an incredible time in London – Firebird was selected as the opening film of the BFI Flare Festival and the film was cordially welcomed. Additional tickets were sold twice and the reaction from the press was extremely positive.

Where will be the next screening location of Firebird? At a festival in San Francisco, in the end of June. That will be the first time when me, Tom and actor Oleg Zagordodnii (in the role of Roman) will be physically present among the audience, watching the film in the legendary Castro Theatre built in 1922. It will be amazing since the screening will take place on the same day as the Pride of San Francisco. Compared to what happened in Moscow, San Francisco will be as day to night – a place where Harvey Milk once started the revolution for equal rights in America.

When will the film reach cinemas? Firebird should reach both cinema and digital distribution in November 2021. We definitely want to see the film screened on the big screen, in cinemas.

How did you discover the story of Sergey Fetisov’s (Tom Prior’s character prototype). I learned about the story from Tiina Lokk, who met Russian film journalist and actor Sergey Lavrentyev in Berlinale film festival years ago. Lavrentyev, who by the way plays the role of a drama professor in Firebird, gave Tiina Lokk the manuscript of Fetisov’s memoirs. The role was initially for Fetisov, who unfortunately passed away before the filming. Lavrentyev was one of Fetisov’s closest friends.

Did you have a chance to meet Fetisov? I did. I met Sergey in Moscow, we held thorough interviews and gathered the smallest details that were not included in Sergey’s memoirs. We have tens of hours of recorded interviews. On the second time, I unfortunately met Sergey at his funeral. It was a very complicated and difficult situation for Tom – to go to the funeral of the person whom you will start to embody in a film, and about whose life you have written a screenplay.

What was Sergey’s life like? He graduated from the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), and several theatres offered him a job, but then his mother fell very ill, so Sergey went back to his hometown of Oryol to take care of her. Fetisov stayed for several years – even after his mother’s death, he worked as a nightpostman. And then it happened that a film director recognized Sergey on the street and brought him back to the world of cinema. Sergey played in more than forty Russian films, and also in an Estonian feature film Georg, where he embodied Nikita Krushtshev. Several Estonians from the crew of Firebird remembered him. In this sense, the world is really a small place – it’s strange that they met the real Sergey on film location. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, Sergey and his friends founded a theatre in Oryol that is still functioning. Sergey’s funeral service also took place there. So theatre was his passion and his life.

Which films and film directors have influenced you the most? Are there any Estonian ones as well? Certainly. Foreign journalists often ask the same question about the influences, but then the Estonian films and directors have not occurred to me. Let’s say that the legendary film classics in Estonia such as The Last Relic or Here We Are! have had a strong impact on me. As for film directors, the number one film director for me has always been Stanley Kubrick. He had this extreme talent to make every film with a different style, and to find the exact right visual language for his films to convey the story the best.

Both racism and homophobia are still flourishing in the world. Did you feel the need to introduce the gay community to the so-called standard audience with this film? If the story of Firebird would take place in today’s London, there would be nothing special about it. This is a tragic story “thanks” to the dehumanised society. And yes, unfortunately there are still numerous societies where aggressive mentality still rules. Recently I read an awful story how an Iranian man decapitated his 20yearold brother because the latter was gay. This is abnormal – that’s why it is important to tell stories to make people understand each other better. That is all we need in order to create mutual understanding. Misunderstandings lead to fear, and fear makes people do terrible things. So, despite the fact that Firebird has strong sociological importance, the film is clearly about the love between two people. In my opinion, many gay films remain superficial – other close people to the protagonists (such as family, friends, relatives) are often left out. Many films focus only on the aspect of sexual attraction, but there is so much more in a romantic relationship. Love means caring for each other, and our purpose is to convey the story between two souls.

So, despite the fact that Firebird has strong sociological importance, the film

is clearly about the love

between two people.

You mentioned the concept of “gay film”. Do you think this is about to become a separate film genre? Hopefully it won’t become a separate genre. I prefer that the representatives of today’s new generation won’t define themselves as either gay or straight. They like the human being. Maybe in fifty years, no one will understand the genre of gay film. More and more stories and films take into consideration the variety of families and the diversity in relationships.

Can art and cinema change the way people think? Absolutely! A lot! Art opens up human consciousness for various perspectives and experiences in order to understand other people more. For me, the pivotal moment arrived years ago in Cannes film festival. I was lucky to have a private meeting with the Dalai Lama. I could ask him two questions. The first one was how to make the world a better place. He started to laugh and said that you can only change yourself into a better person.

My second question was why he was in Cannes – a glamorous place with the red carpet, etc. His answer was that cinema has always been one of the most influential media outputs in the world. Filmmakers can create so much good, but also bad things in the world with their work. By coming to Cannes, his aim was to make filmmakers think about the outcome of their work. You either create aggression, violence, hope, or understanding between people. I cannot even imagine directing a horror film, or a film where violence will be depicted because of violence. I would never do that, there is no need to add such energy to the world. EF

Peeter is following Dalai Lama’s words that you can make the world a better place by changing yourself a better person.